Captain Jack Sparrow

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Before Pirates, everybody (well, pretty much everybody in my age group) thought Johnny Depp was some wacko who did emo, low budget movies and was probably gay with Tim Burton. And then...he gave us Captain Jack Sparrow.
A rum-soaked, wobbly-legged, sun-stroked, eccentric, morally ambiguous individual, with dreadlocks, gold teeth and (I imagine) a body odour to rival that of Pepe Le Pew. Yet, despite the character's many shortcomings and idiocies, we find that Sparrow is probably one of the best movie characters of the last decade, and has somehow managed to sneak his way into the public consciousness. His words are often quoted on the streets, his drunken swagger imitated, and girls everywhere love him.
We see in him a careless freedom: he goes where he pleases, takes what he likes, and does whatever he wants, something that is impossible for most of us.
Another thing that endears him to us is Sparrow's altruistic tendencies: he is a pirate, and he is willing to cheat, lie, betray and swindle his way to what he wants, but, in the end, however hard it is, he does what is best for his friends, and what he knows is the right thing to do. In short, he embodies a noble contradiction: Jack Sparrow is an ethical pirate. For example, in THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, he offers Barbossa a non-violent method of getting the medallion off the Interceptor, but Barbossa just tells him that his pacifism is what lost the Black Pearl in the first place. In DEAD MAN'S CHEST, after a moment of weakness in which he leaves the Black Pearl to the Kraken, he comes back to help his crew, and gives the order to abandon ship, the ship which he spent ten years and the entire first movie trying to get back. In the end, when he is chained to the mast, and betrayed by Elizabeth, he doesn't yell for help from Gibbs, who would rescue him in an instant, but goes down with his ship. Also, in AT WORLD'S END, if you pause the DVD and look at one of his hallucinations carefully, you can read the Desiderata tattooed on his back - a peom stating the code by which Sparrow 'tries' to live by. Sparrow also gives Will immortality to save him from dying, instead of taking it himself, even though Will has betrayed him repeatedly during the course of the film.
Also, I must say, Sparrow has an awesome outfit: besides the belts and the collectible knick-knacks he likes to adorn his person with, Jack Sparrow brought the bandanna back into fashion. And the kohl. Sparrow (or is it Depp?) really pulls off the kohl look.

Pirates of the Caribbean

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My first obsession - for about five years (probably more) and counting - I have been hooked, line and sinker, on the amazing trilogy of movies titled 'PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN'. I've watched all of them so many times that the DVDs are more scratched than Homer Simpson's fat arse. They're just so cool (Homer's arse to a lesser extent.). The FX are epic (well, in the context of the time they were filmed at, I suppose - THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL's undead skeleton pirates have about the realism of kindergarten drawings next to AVATAR's CGI (like, AVATAR is jaw-dropping in 3D!)), acting is awesome (I salute you, Depp (!!! - more on him later), Rush, and Nighy. Keira, honorable mention. Orlando, darling, you're hot, and I love your character (Will Turner), but maybe you should model instead.), scenery is cool (thanks in part to the supercalifragilistically huge budgets of the sequels) and....aww, just fantastic, okay? (Just nod your head.)
I suppose part of the reason these movies have endeared themselves to me so much is that I read almost every book in my primary school's library, and some of them were about pirates, and I enjoyed these stories immensely. I loved the pirates' freedom, to do whatever the hell they wanted to do, and get away with it. TREASURE ISLAND was (and still is) a favourite of mine. (Also, I must mention that I have always wanted to know how to swordfight. I have a list ('Stuff To Do Before You Snuff It') and learning to fence is, I do believe, in the top ten. (I'll post that list someday.))
I simply don't understand why people (critics of these movies, for example) say that the sequels to THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL have convoluted plot lines and are too difficult to understand, and are too long. I got everything the first time round. And the longer a movie is, the longer the escape from boring, old, non-piratey, physics-bound reality. If your problem is that you can't hold on long enough, tough. Buy the DVD. I guarantee you won't regret it.
This movie series has also given me an enduring interest in film scores. How Hans Zimmer never won anything for his awe-inspiring work on Pirates confounds me to this day.
I must say that I was pleased, but quite puzzled when the powers that be at Disney decided Pirates 4 was worth backing. I was content with the ending provided by AT WORLD'S END (Sparrow chasing Barbossa and the Black Pearl once again), and I have this niggling suspicion that Pirates 4 is a money grab (what a shame). As a result, I am wary in regards to this movie; I don't want such a good series to flop at the end (for cricket fans, I compare such an event occuring, to the ending of Matthew Hayden's career representing Australia). On the other hand, perhaps I should keep an open mind; Captain Jack Sparrow is back, after all.

hello!

This is my first post on this blog (I think you know that already), and I'd like to welcome everyone to 'My Random Fandom'. (If anyone actually ever turns up!!) Just a place where I detail my current obsessions with anything, really. Feel free to comment on anything. Yeah. Peace.